Thursday, January 16, 2020

THE STARS OF MICHELIN

Michelin is a French tire company owned by the brothers Edouard and Andre Michelin who in 1900 published the first Michelin Guide to provide useful information for motorists with the aim of increasing demand for cars and therefore their tires.

The popularity of the restaurant section eventually metamorphosed into the [in]famous Michelin Guide with the star rating introduced in 1926.

A star indicates "a very good restaurant in its category", two stars for "excellent cooking, worth a detour", three stars for "exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey", with each star awarded or withdrawn making and breaking many restaurants.

In 1955, the Bib Gourmand distinction for "exceptionally good food at moderate prices" was introduced but it was only in 2016 that "notable street food establishments" were listed and awarded with stars.

A number of Bangkok's street food joints have been listed as Bib Gourmand since then and I have the bragging rights of having dined in some namely Patonggo Cafe for chicken stew, Rung Reung Pork Noodle Shop for pork noodles of course, Famous Khao Kha Moo for barised pork trotters, Go-Ang Khaomunkai Pratunam for chicken rice, Kuyajup Mr. Jo for crispy pork, Wattana Panich Restaurant for beef noodles, Nai Ek Roll Noodles for crispy pork and noodles, and Jeh o Chula for tom yum.

And I've added three more Bib Gourmands in this particular trip:

Polo Fried Chicken near Lumpini Park, crispy brown but juicy and liberally garnished with fried garlic, the sweet spicy chilli and jaew (grilled chilli) dipping sauces accentuating the flavor, and excellently complemented with som tum (green papaya salad), sticky rice and of course, an iceless but almost freezing bottle of Chang, good but short of extraordinary.



Pink Noodle Soup (Yen Tao Fo) that is indeed pink with hints of tomato which is unusual for Thai noodle soups, and a spectacular "myriad of textures" from an assortment of fish and meat balls, fried wanton wrapper, mushrooms, soft tendons, blood curd, and crunchy water spinach, and all that for just 60 Baht! 


And Chakki, famed for its stir fried beef noodles drowning in a thick gravy sauce (Rhad-Na) that has enticed a loyal following in the last 30 years, into which I disappeared into during a meeting lunch break in boring Picnic Hotel. 


And I went back to Soi 19 Sab Sab Wanton Mee for the rice pork that was gone too soon the first time I came, super tender braised pig trotters on a mound of rice with pickled greens and half a boiled egg on the side, good but not enough to long for unlike the eternal crispy pork and sticky rice and a hundred more places waiting to be discovered in the streets of Bangkok.   



There were the usual places like grilled pork neck at Suda and new experiences such as smoked bratwurst, cubano sandwich and whiskey sour at the ARTBOX Night Market. 


And of course, crispy pork and sticky rice with street coffee for one more breakfast in Bangkok before a disppointing dinner of crispy dinuguan and spicy tawilis at Kantina Sabel in Makati which help explain why Michelin stars are rare in the Philippines.

No comments:

Post a Comment